"The
Heart of Change" --http://theheartofchange.com/-- was published in 2002.It's findings still call to
us. Change fails because we rely too much on
convincing -- preoccupation with data-gathering and intellectual analysis.Change succeeds by starting with the heart --
being creative to awaken the "feelings that motivate useful action."
"Dying will not help,"the
authors say. "Never underestimate the power of a good
story," they add.

Today's story is about the power of Jewish and
Palestinian hearts -- apparently similar -- touching and changing.

In war, many citizens feel hopeless.
Pain and death continues among Palestinians and Jews, and for others around Earth.
"Old thinking" says to retaliate, create
more pain -- teach "them" a lesson.
But the means are the ends in the making,
so fear and distrust increase.

Today, some victims choose another way -- new
thinking.Victims are leading the way, beginning at the
heart.

Heart-broken victims united in bid
for peace Father of captured Israeli consoles
Palestinians at hospital by Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service

Jerusalem -- In a moving scene of reconciliation and
hope, the father of the Israeli soldier whose capture started the current round
of fighting in Gaza visited a Tel Aviv hospital Thursday to see Palestinians
injured in last week's Israeli bombardment of BeitHanoun.
And two Palestinians whose families were decimated by
the attack joined NoamShalit
in offering prayers for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the recovery
of the injured and an end to the holding of his son.
"I came in order to express my sympathy with the
families from BeitHanoun,
who lost 23 of their loved ones and have a large number of injured here at the
center," said Shalit after visiting the wounded
Palestinians. His son, 19-year-old Cpl. GiladShalit, was seized on June 25 in a cross-border operation
that also killed two soldiers and wounded six others.Usama Ahmed al-Athamna, who lost his wife, mother and 16 other family
members in the Israeli artillery strike, said he was praying for the health and
safe return of the Israeli soldier.
"I truly thank Gilad's
father for the visit, and I pray that his son is returned home safe and sound
and that it will bring an end to the tragedy we had at home," al-Athamna said.RasanGasan,
whose brother Basem died of his wounds in the
hospital last Friday after being injured in BeitHanoun, said, "I want to thank Gilad's
father for coming to visit us. It breaks our hearts, more than they are already
broken, that this man's heart breaks for us.
"I hope his son is brought him soon, and I ask
both governments, enough, stop. They are continuing negotiations through
bloodshed when it's better to sit at a table of peace and speak eye to eye. We
can reach an agreement through peace, not bloodshed," Gasan
said.Shalit's visit to the SouraskyMedicalCenter
in Tel Aviv came a week after Israel
admitted that its artillery guidance system malfunctioned on Nov. 8, sending
huge shells crashing into civilian homes in BeitHanoun, killing 20 people. Three more subsequently died
from their injuries. Three of the 40 wounded were transferred to a hospital in
Tel Aviv the day after the attack after Israel offered medical assistance
to the victims.
"I have met the families, and I can see that the
people of BeitHanoun are
peace-seeking and not involved in terror, and they only want to provide for
themselves," Shalit said.
"I feel that the Athamna
family and the other families who lost their loved ones are exactly like the Slutzker family in Sderot and my
family in the Galilee," he said,
referring to the family of the woman killed by a Hamas
rocket attack on Wednesday. "We are all victims of the same madness, the
same incessant wars and illogical violence, from firing rockets towards
populated centers, to two terribly erroneous shells, the common denominator is
that the civilian population pays the price."
Early reports from GiladShalit's captors said he had been wounded and had received
medical treatment, but since the first week of his capture the only information
about him has been assurances by leaders of both Hamas
and Fatah, the two major Palestinian political
parties, that he is still alive. Egypt has been leading
international efforts to secure his release, but so far without success.NoamShalit
said after leaving the Israeli hospital that the injured Palestinian children
lying unconscious were paying the price of "these useless wars." He
urged the Israeli government and Palestinian leaders to "end the violence
which brings more violence and hatred in a perpetual cycle that must be broken.
"We aren't looking to see who is to blame or who
started it. I hope there will be developments in negotiations with a new
Palestinian government that will allow for a fresh start when all this madness
ends soon," Shalit said.
"It is time to end this affair. So much suffering has
been caused since June 25 to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians," he
said.
"One of the main obstacles in bringing Gilad home is that the Hamas
leadership is in Damascus
and unfortunately won't heed our calls. Unfortunately, they don't see the
suffering of the Palestinian people, the residents of the Gaza Strip, and they
are apparently living the good life in Damascus,"
Shalit said.